Author's Profile
By Bev Wowak @ The Mattituck-Laurel Library
On a cold Saturday in November, Palmer Vineyard hosted a "Writers on the Vine" program. The winery usually hosts this series during the summer and for $10.00, you get to listen to some interesting authors and enjoy a glass of wine. Some of the past authors have been Nelson DeMille, Linda Scottoline, James Siegel, Joel Siegel, and so many more.
This particular Saturday they presented New York Times Best Seller author David Baldacci. Mr. Balducci has written several readers' favorites-Wish You Well, Last Man Standing, The Winner, Christmas Train, Absolute Power, and his latest Camel Club.
Camel Club is a political thriller about four eccentric middle-aged men who worked for the government in their younger days and are now suspicious of the government. As usual with Mr. Baldacci's book, they contain several subplots he does tie together at the end. The Camel Club is investigating a murder they witnessed but has been made public as a suicide. Set in Washington D.C., things are never what they seem and we are off on the trail of Arab terrorists, nuclear threat, and oh yeah...politics.
Absolute Power
was Mr. Baldacci's first book, hit the top ten of the NY
Times Book Review - and Clint Eastwood made a hit movie out of the book. What a
way to kick off your writing career! For those of us who read the book and
enjoyed it, then saw the movie, I am sure some confusion took place- Was this
movie really based on the book? We all had a good laugh when even Balducci said
he noticed the movie was a little different from his book.
Mr. Baldacci enjoys writing and he takes his readers and their allegiance to him seriously. For those who enjoy his books this is a very luck thing. How many times have you anxiously awaited a book by your favorite author only to be disappointed? I think the biggest disappointment for me is to think the author just churned out a book for the money. Mr. Baldacci and I had a chance to briefly talk about authors who are known to do this (no names mentioned) and how he does not want to be in that category. Mr. Baldacci felt that wasn't fair to readers who are faithful to an author. I am in total agreement with him.
Mr. Baldacci lives right outside of Washington D.C., in Virginia and he has easy access to plots for his novels. While the suspense and mystery genre are what he is most associated with, Wish You Well and Christmas Train touches on family, miracles, spirit of the holidays, and how someone can change your life in ways you may never realize.
The Baldaccis are cofounders of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting literacy efforts all over America.
Mr. Baldacci feels very lucky to be able to do what he enjoys and that so many people share that enjoyment from reading his books.
Mark Bowden writes books that, when you read them, you want to close your eyes to, but you don’t because you want to know what happens. Mr. Bowden writes non-fiction and while you might already know the outcome, you still hope that the ending will change.
In 1999 Mark Bowden wrote “Black Hawk Down,” (which was also made into an excellent movie) in which he provided a narrative of a firefight in Mogadishu, Somalia that took place October 3, 1993. Those of you who read the book know that Mr. Bowden writes books that read like thrillers, but they are not.
Bowden is back with a new book, “Guests of the Ayatollah.” He provides another riveting account of an event in American history that helped shape the world of today. On November 4, 1979 Islamist students, inspired by the Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, stormed the American embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage and kept them hostage for 444 days. Bowden tells us the story of the endless meetings of President Carter and his team, secret negotiations in other parts of the world, the special forces unit put together to free the hostages….and the rescue mission that ended in tragedy.
Yellow ribbons appeared all across America to let the hostages and their families know we were thinking of them; a new late night program, Nightline, began that recapped the daily crisis and kept count of the number of days in captivity; and Jimmy Carter lost his bid for reelection to the presidency.
Bowden spent five years doing the research for this book, he interviewed people who where there, who where on the “inside” of the decision-making and he gives many insights on what was going on during this critical time. For those of us who remember everything of the 444 days, what happened on November 4, 1979 was the beginning of where the world is today.
When an Author comes up with a first novel, it can be a hit or miss. With Stella Rimington's "At Risk", we definitely have a hit. Here we have an author who follows the adage "write what you know."
Ms. Rimington certainly knows what she writes and it comes out in her thriller. Ms. Rimington was the first woman to be Chief of Briton's M15, which is the equivalent to our FBI. Ms. Rimington was a diplomatic housewife in New Delhi, India in 1965 when she was offered a part time job in clerical by M15. When she returned to Briton, she joined M15 full time, but not in clerical. She began as an intelligence officer, moved on to director of the counter subversion, counter espionage and counter terrorism branches and became the first female chief of M15 in 1992. Even more significant, Rimington was the first director general whose identity was announced publicly hence blowing her 25-year cover. Her family, having been protected by anonymity, and her neighbors having no idea who she really was and living among them caused a nightmare. The press found out where she lived and camped outside her house and they had to sell their house and move. She held the post of director general until 1996. Dame Judi Dench used Rimington as her model for the first female character M she played in movies.
Rimington thinks that women should go about intelligence work in a different style than men, which adds diversity when you put the two styles together, you get a good mix. Rimington wrote her memoir about her 30-years in intelligence, "Open Secrets," which let us know some of what went on. Her novel "AT RISK", is the first of a planned series featuring M15 officer Liz Carlyle, which I am sure has some of Rimington in her.
I always like to find a
new author to share with others. Ms. Rimington is an author who is enjoyable to
read and look forward to the next book. I highly recommend Rimington's thriller
and look forward to the continued series and the main character, Liz Carlyle.
Lisa Scottoline:
There are several authors I enjoy reading. I usually
share who they are and hope you like them as much as I do. When you get to meet
the author in person and find out that they are just like you envisioned, it is
a pleasant surprise.
I had the pleasure of being at Palmer Vineyard the Sunday the featured
author was Lisa Scottoline. Ms. Scottoline was interviewed by Larry Davidson,
who has his own radio show. He asked her about her books, how, why and when she
writes. Ms. Scottoline writes legal thrillers. Her main characters are part of
an all-women law firm led by Benedetta "Bernie" Rosato. Scottoline is a former
trial lawyer for a Philadelphia law firm so she writes about what she knows.
Scottoline thoroughly enjoys writing and her readers are very important to her.
She is a big advocate of libraries and raves about how important they are, not
only to her readership, but also to a community.
A pleasant surprise was that Nelson Demille was in the audience. He has been
interviewed at Palmer's before and enjoyed being part of the audience this time.
Lisa Scottoline's new book is "Killer Smile."
I highly recommend Lisa Scottoline's books. Meet
her characters and see why bar associations use her book to discuss legal and
ethical issues in our civil as well as criminal justice systems. Find out why
many reviewers and critics say she is better that John Grisham and see if you
agree.
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